CMJ 2012: Icona Pop

Thursday night/Friday morning, 12:30 a.m. @ Santos Party House

For the Icona Pop novice, their live show is an excellent starting point. The duo's act is deceptively simple: They stand onstage beside one another in high-fashion, all-black getups, blasting the room with anthemic electro pop while a gorgeously staged set of lights beam colors across the room that you can almost reach out and grab. It's crisp and clean and elegantly executed, and likely the result of months of tweaking and careful consideration. And yet this pair of women act like they've never toiled a second in their lives, as though they were shouting lines of inspiration and queuing up electrifying dubstep drops from the womb.

Mid-set thought: These two need to give Purity Ring a lightshow lesson.

Dissenting crowd chatter: "This is music I won't remember in six months. I mean, maybe you'll hear it at a party."

Best use of resources: Aino Jawo headbanging her approximately three inches of hair

Total downtime between songs: Under a minute

But how could he?: "A big thanks to the guy who broke my heart. I fucking love it." -- Caroline Hjelt

Performance peak: Both ladies' fists in the air, both chanting, "We could have it all!"